


A Warm December

by keychu



Category: SHINee
Genre: Canon Universe, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Miscommunication, One-Sided Attraction, Pining, Protective Minho, Takes place in Canada, Winter, best friend choi minho, indecisive kim kibum, lots of complaining, not quite an xmas fic but close, or is it mutual...??????, side minkey, somewhat clueless jonghyun, this takes place maybe next year tho?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-05 15:18:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16813255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keychu/pseuds/keychu
Summary: SHINee and the rest of SMTOWN are in Montreal for SMTOWN LIVE VII, but this time, they're staying a few extra days at Mont Tremblant Ski Resort to film some footage for the tour's DVD extras.This coupled with Minho being at his wits-end with Kibum's constant pining and indecisiveness, Jonghyun refusing to look more than two inches from his damn nose, and Taemin and Jinki's odd behavior leads to more than a few petty arguments, and possible life threatening situations...





	1. Train to Nowhere

**Author's Note:**

> re-write of a fic by the same name from 2011 on my AFF account.  
> COMPLETELY rewritten. mostly unbeta'd. 
> 
> I love winter fics lol soz

“This is pretty cool, have we ever been in a train like this altogether? Like American-style?” Taemin asked, shoving his bag in the over-head compartment. 

“We’re in Canada, so I think its French,” Kibum said without looking up. He flipped to a new page in his magazine, barely looking at it. He was already settled into a window seat, as was Jinki who sat next to him. Taemin was still struggling to keep his bag from falling out, and Jonghyun might have already passed out in the seat behind him. He looked up briefly to see Minho in the aisle seat next to Jinki’s, video camera out and judging by the way the lens kept moving in and out, was taking zoom shots of his face. He scowled instantly. 

“As pretty as I am, can you give me warning next time? Jesus put it away, we can film later,” Kibum said, turning back to his magazine, this time pointedly glaring at the pages much harder than he needed to. 

“You’re just mad the production staff didn’t give you a camera to control for the ride,” Minho said teasingly. 

“Yeah, instead they gave it to you and the kid who can’t even store his damn bag – Jesus, Taemin, it’s fine! Sit down!” 

“Kibum stop making a fuss, we haven’t even started moving yet,” Jinki said, looking up from his phone for the first time. Kibum looked at him out of the corner of his eye and let out a small huff of air. 

“You’re right. Sorry Taemin,” he said. 

“It’s okay hyung, we’ve been travelling since yesterday, I think we’re all a little grumpy,” Taemin said, finally getting his bag to stay. He looked down at Jonghyun, seeing him asleep and sighing. “Hyung,” he whined, tapping Jinki on the shoulder, “Jonghyun-hyung is already asleep,” Jinki turned in his seat to see that yes, Jonghyun had fallen asleep. He sighed. 

“Just sit there then Taemin,” Jinki said, vaguely waving his hand over his shoulder. 

“Will you sit with me, hyung?” Taemin asked. Jinki sighed again, but smiled as he stood up anyway. 

“Sorry Kibum, have fun with Minho,” He said as he moved to follow Taemin to their new seats across from Jonghyun. Kibum watched from his seat. Taemin took the window, and Jinki remained on the aisle. Taemin gave Jinki a beaming smile before beginning to whisper urgently about something or other, smile never leaving. Kibum watched them from between the gap in the seats awhile longer, noticing how Jinki returned a soft smile, before his neck started to hurt from the angle and he returned his focus to his magazine, noticing he hadn’t flipped a page in almost five whole minutes. He felt more than saw Minho move into the seat next to him. 

“Where is everyone else?” Kibum asked, not looking up. 

“Dining cart getting food, I think,” Minho replied, turning on the camera again. He fiddled with the settings before pressing record, the focus on Kibum’s eyebrow scar, zooming out slowly until his whole face filled the frame, “So Key-ssi, what’s your concept for this trip?” Minho asked brightly. Kibum wanted to roll his eyes, instead he smirked and look directly at the camera. 

“A Man Who Wants to Enjoy His Vacation,” he said with a hint of sarcasm. Minho chuckled and flipped the camera’s screen over to show Kibum himself. Kibum’s eyes widened when he saw himself, “Ah, this is terrible, I don’t have makeup on and I’ve had no sleep,” he whined, pouting in an exaggerated way. Minho laughed again. 

“It’s okay, it suits you,” He smiled from behind the camera. 

“Why don’t you film yourself?” 

“How can I when you clearly stated before that any photo without you is just a background?” Kibum gave the camera a blank stare in response. 

“Film those two or something. Get a nice zoom shot of Jonghyun-hyung's drool,” he suggested, pointing off camera. Minho shook his head slightly but complied anyway. He made some narrative comments as he filmed the other members for a few minutes, before turning the camera off again. He turned back around to get comfortable, gently tossing the camera back on his old seat where he had left his bag. 

“So, really what’s the concept for this trip?” Minho asked, turning to face Kibum more fully. Kibum flipped another page, almost reaching the end of his magazine at this point, though he’d barely read any of it. 

“What do you mean? While the camera is on or off?” 

“Both.” 

“On -- the usual. Off – also the usual.” 

“Alright, does that mean you’re going to glue yourself to Jonghyun-hyung while the camera is rolling, only to stick yourself to me, Taemin, or hide away by yourself when its off?” Minho questioned, clearly trying to direct the conversation in a round-about way. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kibum snapped, shutting his magazine. 

“Just wondering what your plan was,” Minho said innocently, with a shrug. After a moment though he started pointedly eyeing Kibum as a hint for him to talk. 

“I was hoping I’d get filming control so I wouldn’t have to worry about where to put myself,” he replied, giving in. Minho hummed in response, “I do want to enjoy this trip though. I’ve never been anywhere in Canada before, spare the two times we were here in Toronto.” 

“We all want to, but you know with filming too it’ll be harder,” Minho sighed, stretching out in his seat. Kibum nodded, turning to rest his head on his hand and look out his window. The train lurched forward suddenly, making him almost loose his purchase on his arm rest, but then they were off – finally moving. 

“So, what were you trying to get at with the Jonghyun comment?” Kibum mumbled against his hand after a solid ten minutes of just watching the scenery change around them as they made their way out of the city. The trip from Toronto to Montreal wouldn’t take more than a few hours, and after that they were given the whole day to “relax” (meaning, film around the city for the tour DVD extras). 

“You know,” Minho replied. 

“I don’t, that’s why I asked,” Kibum said, annoyed. 

“No, you just want me to change my answer,” Kibum rolled his eyes, “Do you want to revisit this topic now? We do nearly every time we promote, travel, tour, you name it – if you’re drunk and have been forced to be in his presence for more than twenty-four hours within forty-eight hours, you’ll bitch about it.” 

“I don’t bitch about it -- I confide in my supposed best friend. Of whom apparently finds my bitching annoying,” Kibum snapped back. 

“Kibum,” Minho stated simply. Kibum lost the bite in his tone when he spoke next. 

“Minho, it’s complicated,” he began, much the same as he always does when they discuss this topic sober. 

“I know it is, I know it through and through – since we were nineteen years old Kibum. Nineteen! Do you know how old we are now? It’s been nearly ten years, during which two whole relationships have come and gone, and you’re both still in the same bullshit situation as you were in before; over eight damn years ago,” Minho had turned in his seat again, looking at Kibum as intently as he could manage with him purposefully avoiding his eyes. Kibum couldn’t find it in himself to answer. Minho sat back in his seat after more than a beat, clearly frustrated with the lack of retaliation, “You need to talk about it eventually,” he said at last. 

“You just complained about how much I talk about it,” Kibum said into his palm again. 

“Not to me, Kibum,” his tone pointedly suggestive. Kibum shook his head. 

“I’ve made it this far Ming, I can go a lot longer.” 

“Yeah, because you’re a stubborn jackass,” Kibum scoffed, turning to face Minho again. 

“Yet, you still keep me around,” he said flatly. 

“We’re on contract,” Minho retorted and Kibum scowled. 

“Beyond rude, and beyond bullshit – and you know it.” 

“Maybe,” Minho said, a small smile tugging at his lips, and some of the tension between them faded. After a moment of relatively comfortable silence, Kibum sighed heavily before deciding to speak up. 

“There’s never going to be a right time Ming, there’s never a chance – the topic never brings itself up, and if I haven’t figured out how to say it by now, I never will. It’s just a fact. We’re close friends, and more importantly, we’re business partners. I can’t be so selfish. We’ve been over this too,” Kibum said finally. 

“Kibum, that was the excuse you started using six years ago, but it just doesn’t work anymore. We’re more than coworkers, we’re practically family--” 

“Exactly! How can I tell my fucking brother I love him?” he nearly shouted back, catching himself just before his voice raised too high, “I’ll get over it eventually, can we just--” 

“No, we cannot just ignore it. Could you ignore it when he dated Sekyung? No. Could you ignore it when you dated Hyeongseop? No. Face it Kibum, this isn’t some school-yard crush. This is serious,” Minho cut him off sharply. Kibum recoiled at the mention of Hyeongseop – that was a door he hated opening. It was messy, full of pain and a lot of bitter-sweet memories. 

“That’s not fair Ming – I did love Hyeong, just--” 

“Just not as much as you loved him. As much as you still love him. Please stop kidding yourself Beom, it’s starting to tear me apart watching you suffer like this. Even Taemin and Jinki know something is up by now – even if they’re not sure exactly what,” Kibum’s eyebrows knitted together immediately at that. 

“I thought you said no one could tell,” he asked, worriedly. 

“Beom, the fans can fucking tell,” Minho deadpanned. 

“That’s just their delusion, it’s not based on reality,” Minho continued to stare. 

“You’re joking right?” Kibum just groaned in response. 

“Just drop it Ming, you know why I can’t say shit, so just let me cry on your shoulder tonight after the company dinner like I always do--” 

“Ugh, where are we?” they suddenly heard a grunt from behind them. Kibum immediately froze, slowly turning to see Jonghyun rubbing his face, awkwardly slouched down in his seat. He gaped slightly, stunned at his own stupidity of talking so opening with the man in question literally sat behind him. 

“Nearly there by now, hyung,” Minho said, leaning towards Kibum to see Jonghyun through the seat gap. Jonghyun just made a noise of confused distress in response before readjusting and seeming to pass out once more. Kibum watched him a moment longer before turning sharply to glare at Minho. 

“You did that on purpose,” he hissed. 

“I have no clue what you’re talking about Beom, he was asleep the whole time.” 

“I swear, for the love of fuck, Ming, if he starts acting weird, or asking weird questions, I will break your legs while you sleep,” Kibum said darkly. Minho chuckled. 

“Now, where have I heard that before?” 

\--- 

“Okay boys,” Chojin said as they piled out of their van, “Everyone is staying along this strip,” he continued, gesturing in front of him towards the rows of chalets, “we split the lodgings by group, just to make it easier. Some groups take up more than one though, so I’m not kidding when I say we have his entire row. The main building is down there,” he pointed off to the left, “that’s where we’ll have the company dinner tomorrow, in the main even room. There’s also ski rentals, a café, and a regular restaurant there. Front desk is also there if you get lost,” He paused, looking to Taemin to make sure he was listening, before turning to Jinki, who nodded solemnly, “okay then, you guys are in house four, here are your keys, your job for the rest of the day is to hang out around the grounds here at Mont Tremblant, and film some crap for SM Town VII’s DVD extras. Got it? Great. I’m going to my room to relax, but call me if you need at thing,” and with that he started off down the road in the direction of the staff lodging. He paused again to look back, “Don’t need anything.” Kibum rolled his eyes. 

“Yes, sir manager-nim,” he said in a sarcastic tone, Chojin simply waved as he kept walking. Kibum took a moment to look around, noting their bags had been pulled out of the van, but were stacked in a pile next to it still, “I guess we’re taking our own bags.” 

“Yes, your highness, how rude of the servants to not do it for you,” Minho chided moving to grad his suitcase and duffle bag from the pile. Kibum scowled at him. 

“That’s not what I meant and you know it – hey! Taemin, get back here, we’re not taking your shit in for you!” Kibum called out when he noticed Taemin had already begun making his way to their unit. 

“Give my bags to Jinki-hyung,” he shouted back, without slowing down. Kibum stared after him for a moment more in disbelief before making a move to grab his bags, pulling Taemin’s away from the pile, fully intending to just leave them there for the brat to pick up on his own, when Jinki stopped him by holding out his hand. 

“You heard him, give me his,” he said when Kibum looked up at him. Once again Kibum was left to stare in disbelief when Jinki just took the bags without another word. Maneuvering both his and Taemin's carry-ons over his shoulders and grabbing the remaining suitcases with both hands. He was half way down the road before Kibum shook himself out of his stupor, looking over to Minho, who had come to stand beside him. 

“What’s with them?” he asked quietly. 

“No clue,” Minho replied, “come on let’s go, before Taemin picks out rooms for us,” Kibum nodded, but paused to look behind him to see how Jonghyun was doing. The man had been unusually quiet since they arrived in Quebec. 

“You okay there, hyung?” Kibum asked, causing Jonghyun to startle, he looked up from his phone quickly before pocketing it and grabbing his bags. 

“Yeah, sorry was just distracted,” he caught up to where Kibum was waiting and they began walking together, “so how was the train ride for you? I ended up sleeping the whole way,” he elbowed Kibum in his side lightly, “thanks by the way,” he added with sarcasm. 

“We tried to wake you, but you know you sleep like the dead no matter where you are,” he elbowed him back, “but the ride was fine. Minho got real annoying with that camera though. I think whoever does the editing might get vertigo,” he added dryly. 

“Don’t tell him that, he’ll probably cry and then do even more weird angles. Y’know how into photography he’s been these past few years.” 

“Then he should just get an Instagram like a normal person, not hog company cameras and experiment to my detriment.” 

“I have one of the DVD cameras too, did you want to take a look around with me after unpacking, then?” Jonghyun asked, holding out the camera what was slung over one shoulder for emphasis, “might beat being Minho’s composition model,” he gave a friendly smile for encouragement. Kibum smiled in return, but worried it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Internally he found himself both keen on the idea, but also lightly wary. He decided though, that it probably would beat hanging out with Minho for who knows how long. Plus this way he could avoid being trapped in another conversation about Jonghyun. So instead he decided to agree to hang out with... Jonghyun. He groaned internally. 

“Sure hyung, sounds great,” He could feel his smile tighten unnaturally, “how about we go look at the main building and just get a feel for the area? There might be something worth filming that end of the resort,” he continued conversationally. Jonghyun nodded, looking ahead again as they neared the correct chalet. 

“Is there anything you wanted to talk about?” Jonghyun asked, his tone light, yet leading. Kibum instantly felt his hands clam up, his throat getting tight. 

“What do you mean?” he sounded unsure of his question, even to his own ears. His mind was going in every direction, trying to think of cover-ups and excuses, with a significant amount of brain power going into plotting Minho’s rapidly approaching death. 

“I don’t know, you just look like you’ve had a lot on your mind lately – you've been working on your solo comeback right? Must be stressful, no?” Kibum instantly relax. He almost stumbled up the steps, his legs feeling like jelly. 

“Oh yeah – yeah I've been pretty busy,” he said lamely in an attempt at nonchalance. At this point they had reached the top of the stairs, and before Kibum could open the door and walk into the perfect excuse to separate from Jonghyun, at least for a little while was halted when Jonghyun spoke again. 

“Are all the songs finalized? You haven’t really been telling me much, but I saw some of your outfit designs the other day – and, I had this idea for a song, I was thinking it’d match--” 

“That’s sweet hyung, really, but, you don’t--” 

“No! Really, I got so inspired when I saw your sketches, and the photos the designers had sent over, it really got me thinking about these lyrics I had sort of given up on--” Jonghyun cut off when Kibum stumbled forward as the door was pulled open form the inside. He almost fell into Minho’s chest, but caught himself on the door frame. 

“Oh, there you guys are. I snagged a room upstairs for you Kibum before Taemin had a chance to scope it out – don't worry you can thank me later,” Minho smiled brightly, but Kibum could see he had stepped in on purpose. Kibum offered a weak smile in return. 

“Gee, thanks Ming. How about I go take a look then?” he said, almost robotically, he turned to Jonghyun once more with the same weak smile, “I’ll see you in a bit hyung? To go exploring?” 

“Sure Kibum, just come find me when you’re ready,” Kibum didn’t spare a second glance back to really inspect Jonghyun’s expression, instead opting to drag Minho through the hall to the stairs so he could ‘show him where his room was’. 

“Oh my god Minho, I’m an idiot,” he started once they reached the landing at the top. 

“Yeah, I could’ve told you that,” Minho said, walking to the most-right door in the hallway and pushing it open, “This one Beom.” 

“Thanks -- yeah so, he asked me to film some clips with him and I said yes, but because of your stupid conversation from earlier I’m all gross and panicked around him,” Kibum complained as he walked past Minho into the room. He dropped his bags almost immediately upon entry, basically throwing himself onto the bed, “what do I do?” he whined into the sheets. 

“Starting to get sick of this Kibum, how about, instead of running away like you’ve done for the past decade, you fucking talk to Jonghyun?” Minho said through clenched teeth, slamming the door before he said the man’s name aloud. 

“I do--” 

“You fucking don’t do anything Kibum, don’t give me that half-assed loop hole bullshit,” Kibum raised his head from the sheets, straining to look at Minho clearly from over his shoulder. Minho was swearing, a lot, and that usually only happened when he was piss drunk, or pissed off. Based on his expression, Kibum knew he hadn’t missed him downing a mickey of vodka in the car, “Kibum, I’m serious. Please, for my sanity, either talk to him, or get over him. You need release, closure – something!” his voice was steadily rising in pitch the more upset he got. Kibum flinched. 

“I’m sorry Ming, I didn’t mean to bother you--” 

“That’s not the problem Kibum!” Minho yelled back, “I’m your best friend I’ll be here for you even if you continue to be a complete jackass about this – but the point is that I’m worried about you, I’m sad for you, I’m hurting for you, and honestly I’m damned pissed at you,” he had lowered his voice again the farther he made it into his confession before sighing, “I care about you, it hurts me to see you like this,” he finished, barely above a whisper now. Kibum jumped on the bed and nearly slammed Minho into the wall with the force of his embrace. 

“I’m sorry Ming, I’m trying,” he said, holding back tears, “Thank you,” he whispered into his neck, feeling Minho wrap his arms around him, holding him in place. Minho moved his hand along Kibum’s back gently – this wasn’t the first time they’d had this blow up, and Minho was sure it wouldn’t be the last either. He exhaled heavily, tucking his chin down to rest on Kibum’s shoulder, mumbling useless things in comfort as Kibum let out a few tears quietly. 

“Hey Kibum, I heard yelling are you guys--” Jonghyun began, opening the door, but stopping when he came face to face with the two younger men in an embrace, “...okay?” he finished weakly. Kibum looked up from Minho’s shoulder, eyes widening. 

“Oh!” He nearly jumped back, but stopped himself from being overly dramatic, making it more like an ill-timed jerk. Minho let him go easily, but kept a hand on his shoulder as her turned to face Jonghyun. 

“Sorry hyung, we had a small disagreement about something and I lost my temper,” Minho offered in explanation for the yelling. Jonghyun was still standing with one hand on the door knob, more or less shocked-stiff, staring at Kibum. He visibly snapped out of it at the sound of Minho’s voice. 

“Huh? Oh yeah, no problem, I was uh, just checking,” there was a somewhat awkward pause after he spoke; with Jonghyun still staring at Kibum Kibum looking between Jonghyun and Minho, and Minho watching the two of them in slight amusement. After a few more moments of painful silence, Kibum let out a strangled laugh. 

“Ha ha, come on hyung we’ve been around each other over twelve years – don't act like you’ve never seen us hug before,” Kibum said, taking a step forward to fist-bump Jonghyun in the shoulder, “are you ready to go explore now? Let me just grab my coat.” 

“Oh right, I need to grab the camera form my room though.” 

“Sure,” Kibum said as he snatched his coat off the bed where he had tossed it, “We’ll see you later Ming, tell the guys not to wait up for dinner,” he walked passed Minho with a brief pat on the shoulder, Minho only returning the action with a raised eyebrow. Kibum grimaced and gave an awkward wave in goodbye, walking out without waiting for Jonghyun. Jonghyun stood in the door a little longer, lagging behind to just... look at Minho. 

“See you later hyung,” Minho said with a bright smile, waving. Jonghyun nodded, waving in return. 

“Right, see you Ming,” he said vaguely, not turning until he had retreated outside of the door’s threshold. Once outside, he paused to look back over his shoulder once more, perhaps about to comment further, but ultimately deciding against it, instead closing his mouth again and deliberately making his way down the stairs. Minho waiting until he heard the footsteps fade before letting out a loud groan rubbing his hands over his face in frustration. He let out a rough shout, falling backwards on the bed, his arms shielding his eyes from the sun streaming through the windows. 

“I need a nap,” he mumbled to himself, before hearing Taemin call out for him from down stairs “or maybe a shot,” he pushed himself up reluctantly, “Coming!”


	2. Arriving at: Nowhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up there's mention of a het!relationship, don't worry, it's not canon. 
> 
> This fic now has two beta's~! The lovely G.A. and J.R. has offered to go through this monster as I write it, so I will be retro-actively editing chapters as they make their way through them. No changes they make will be anything more than spelling, grammar, and sentence structure. So don't worry no plot threads will be lost between updates.

“Taemin?” Minho called out as he reached the bottom of the stairs. 

“In the kitchen, hyung!” he heard in reply, coming from somewhere further down the hall. He made his way to the back of the chalet, passing the living room before eventually coming upon the kitchen. It was pretty open and spacious for something at a resort, but Minho had noticed these lodgings were more like mini houses than hotel suites. 

“You called?” he asked, walking further into the room to sit at one of the center island’s bar stools. Taemin was bent over into the fridge, and Minho could hear things knocking around. “Is there food?” 

“Hmm? Yeah, Chojin-hyung said they stocked all the houses with enough food for a few days. Mostly in case we wanted to cook our own breakfast or film some sort of ‘bonding’ segment. I don’t know,” Taemin replied, standing up and kicking the fridge closed, his arms full of random ingredients he would somehow shove into what you  _ might _ call a sandwich. If you squinted. And didn’t have taste buds. Minho eyed him skeptically as he laid out his findings across the island counter, “So where did Jonghyun-hyung and Kibum-hyung go?” Taemin asked casually, as he began looking through different drawers for utensils. 

“No clue honestly, Kibum said they were just going to go look around, scope out the place,” Minho rested his head on his hand, still watching Taemin. 

“Kibum-hyung still refusing to tell Jonghyun-hyung how he feels?” Taemin asked without stopping his ministrations, now searching through the cupboards for some reason. 

“Yup.” 

“Jonghyun-hyung still acting like he doesn’t know something’s up?” 

“Yup,” Minho sighed. 

“Are we still pretending we know nothing?” 

“Yes,” he waited a beat to see if Taemin was going to continue, “Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you and hyung?” Taemin paused as he reached for a bowl on a high shelf, looking over his shoulder with a devilish smile. 

“Nope,” Minho dropped his head to the counter, groaning. 

“You’re all giving me a perpetual headache.” 

“Who’s ‘all’?” Jinki asked, walking into the kitchen, also heading straight to the fridge. 

“Minho’s just tired of all the drama – hyung I’m making sandwiches, you don’t need to get anything – you’d think after all this time we’d have no secrets left to tell, yet here we are,” Jinki seemed uncertain about Taemin’s ‘sandwiches’, but stopped looking for food nonetheless. He made his way to sit next to Minho at the island. 

“You know you two’ve added to that list, right?” Minho said into the marbled surface. Jinki looked between the two of them. 

“Taemin, what did you say?” 

“Nothing hyung, Minho’s just projecting.” 

“Can you at least pretend you respect me while I’m right in front of you?” Minho complained, sitting up again. 

“No,” Minho scoffed and folded his arms, looking to Jinki instead. 

“I’m not projecting – whatever that means – I just asked what the deal with you two is,” Jinki didn’t take his eyes off Taemin as he buttered some bread. Minho couldn’t decide if the look was in apprehension or admiration though. 

“Nothing,” Jinki said distractedly, Taemin paused for a moment, Minho quickly flicking his eyes up to catch a small twitch in Taemin’s expression, before he forced it back to normal and began buttering again. 

“Right, I call bullshit, and will be ready to say ‘I told you so’ whenever you guys fess up to whatever it is,” Minho said smugly. Taemin set his knife down with more force than necessary. 

“We will when  _ you _ stop playing the ‘best friend’ role, and tell Kibum-hyung what you  _ really _ think,” Taemin bit out, glaring at Minho. Minho gaped at him, Jinki stiffened. 

“Hey, Taem, chill out--” 

“No way, he can’t just go around preaching whatever he wants to until he learns to practice his own damn gospels,” Taemin cut off Jinki harshly. 

“Okay there,  _ Francesco, _ cool it,” Minho snapped back. 

“Minho, watch your tone,” Jinki countered. 

“Watch  _ my  _ tone? Did you hear him? Or is your dick making you deaf old man?” Jinki stood up, glaring. 

“I said, watch it, Minho,” he repeated darkly. Taemin raised his butter knife, pointing it at Minho ready to add some snide remark but Minho beat him to it, pushing back his stool with a loud scraping noise. 

“And I asked if you’d gone deaf, because your bisexual-twink over there started it,” Minho nearly shouted, glaring. 

“Hey! I’m right here,” Taemin yelled over whatever Jinki said in reply, “what’s between me and hyung can stay that way Minho, we don’t need your permission.” 

“I didn’t say you did! I just want you guys to be fucking honest about whatever it is,” Minho said, exhausted by the mental circles he was running in. 

“And we’re saying there’s nothing to tell,” Jinki said evenly, sitting back down, returning his eyes to Taemin. Taemin moved to open a jar of who-knows-what to add to the bread, staying mute. Minho wanted to rip his hair out. Frankly, he was dealing with his own emotional bullshit, and he didn’t really want to play Dr. Phil for every Tom, Dick or Harry that came along, yet here he was. He was about to say something, anything really to keep the conversation from dying like that, when the front door suddenly slammed open.

“Jonghyun you’re such an ass!” sounded from down the hall, followed by an equally-hard slam of the door closing and foot steps pounding up the stairs. Minho sighed, rubbing at his eyes with one hand.

“Your boyfriend needs you,” Taemin commented with fake nonchalance, barely glancing up from his work. Minho mouthed ‘your boyfriend needs you’ back at him, a mocking expression taking over his features.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” He said instead.

“Then stop being his keeper,” Jinki mumbled, still not looking at him. If Minho was being honest, it was Jinki’s attitude that was taking him by surprise. Tiffs with Taemin happened every other week, but Jinki jumping in like this was rare, and he wasn’t sure comments like these had ever left the older man’s mouth. The sound of a door slamming from upstairs followed by a few distinct crashing sounds got Minho moving again. He pushed his stool back under the island’s lip and made his way to the kitchen entrance, stopping as he reached the threshold.

“We’ll finish this  _ discussion _ later,” he said, taking his leave quickly so no one one-liners from the other two could be made.

Once Minho made his way to the top floor, he paused a moment outside of Kibum’s door, taking a deep breath before opening it tentatively.

“Kibum?” He called softly. A pained moan came in reply from the side of the bed farthest from the door, closest to the window. Minho padded into the room lightly, peering around the bed to see Kibum sitting under the window, a half-finished bar of chocolate in his hand. He looked up at Minho, chewing dramatically on the bite still in his mouth.

“I hate him,” he whined. Minho sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at Kibum, a feeling of pity washing over him.

“What happened, Beom?” Kibum knocked his head into the wall behind him, another pained sound escaping.

“We were barely at the end of the driveway, and Jonghyun was already filming. So, of course, no real conversation could happen because we both had to have our ‘we’re idols’ voices on. Then, the ass thinks it’d be a good idea to have a snowball fight,” Minho looked behind him and noticed Kibum had discarded his coat in a heap on the floor. He could see some snow melting in patches on it. He got up to brush it off and hang it up so it wouldn’t get ruined as Kibum continued, “I swear he’s just a giant child. So, of course I have to play along -- and I did, for the most part -- but then Taeyeon-noona and Hyoyeon-noona came down the road,” he took another bite of his chocolate, “and you know how he is around her,” he said around his chewing.

“Around who?” Minho asked, searching for place to hang the coat.

“Taeyeon! He’s been so weird with her lately. He practically knocked me over to run to her. Those two huddled up to talk about  _ something _ , so I went over and interviewed with Hyoyeon-noona on their camera for a few minutes. Jonghyun came back and said he and Taeyeon were going down to the cafe and that we were ‘welcome to join’ -- like, excuse me? The whole point of us being outside was to go do that. So of course I just said sure, like what else am I going to say -- are you listening?” Kibum paused his rant to watch Minho struggle with his coat and a hanger, before shoving it in the closet.

“Yeah, yeah. Jonghyun -- ass, Taeyeon, coffee shop, keeping going,” he waved him off as he sat back down on the bed.

“Right, so we all start walking down to the building Chojin pointed out before, when Jonghyun starts trying to make some lame joke, I don’t even know what he was trying to say, but he basically goes to bump me, but him not realizing the road is completely fucking covered in ice, sends me off into a snowbank. And instead of helping me up, he starts fucking laughing! And then whips out that damn camera. The stupid thing is recording, so of course I have to play it cool, and Taeyeon-noona comes to help me up instead. After laughing some more and making dumb commentary he turns the camera off again and tells me to ‘cheer up’. I almost lost it on him. So instead I took off back home without a word, and he calls after me to tell me to come back -- and now I’m here,” he takes a deep breath, “I hate him.”

“I’m sorry Beom,” Minho starts, “But, what’s with him and noona? I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary?” his tone turned up at the end in question.

“I have,” Kibum said, his eyes downcast as his picked lint from his sweater. “It’s been going on all year.”

“What has?”

“Since those stupid rumors about Baekhyun and Taeyeon-noona started up again last winter. They’ve been attached at the hip. At first, I thought it was to deflect, y’know like, get the attention off noona and Baek, but it’s-- I think it’s something else,” he looked up at Minho before continuing, “I think they’re seeing each other.” Minho dropped his shoulders, his head falling back. He didn’t know what to say, he knew for a fact that it wasn’t true -- it was as untrue as the rumors Taeyeon and Baekhyun had gotten back together -- but he knew nothing he said would convince Kibum otherwise. 

“Kibum...” he started, unsure of where he was going to go with this.

“Fuck man, why do I have to be in love with a straight guy?” Kibum asked rhetorically, finishing off his chocolate.

“Kibum,” he said again.

“Ming, please don’t come at me with that ‘love has no gender’ crap, I’m not in the mood.”

“I wasn’t -- but it’s true. It can be true, depends who you’re asking,” Minho said defensively. He’d said this to the other man many times over the years, subtly trying to drop hints about his own feelings. If Kibum picked up on them, he never said anything.

“Minho, I don’t need advice. I need my best friend to hold me while I cry over ten years of wasted time and pain,” Kbum breathed out to the ceiling, his arms falling to his side as he closed his eyes. Minho watched as a few tears escaped and rolled down his cheeks, immediately feeling his heart ache, threatening to explode inside his chest. He hated this. Kibum didn’t deserve this constant pain and Minho wanted so badly to fix everything -- he wanted to make the pain go away, to be the reason Kibum felt better, to make him happy. 

Not wanting this train of thought to get pulled into a downward spiral, Minho pushed himself off the bed to sit next to Kibum. Silently, he pulled Kibum into his side, hugging him to his chest. After a short while, Kibum situated himself more comfortably, curling into Minho as best he could from their positions. Minho rubbed his hand gently down Kibum’s back, and up into his hair, before he took to massaging the back of his neck, rubbing his thumb and index finger in small pressured circles. Kibum let out a soft sound of appreciation that Minho tried to ignore before it could distract him too much from the task at hand -- comforting Kibum -- and  not letting his mind wander .

Neither were sure how long they sat there on the ground, but at some point they had moved to the bed for comfort’s sake. Minho laid above the sheets, propped up against the headboard while Kibum had gotten under and tucked himself back into Minho’s side. His head resting against Minho’s chest, moving every so slightly with the gentle rise and fall of his breathing. Minho had wrapped his arm around Kibum, alternating between rubbing his back and giving soft reaffirming squeezes on his arm whenever he felt the smaller man tense up, or heard his breath hitch. Eventually, Minho took out his phone, scrolling through a news site, while Kibum did nothing more than stare out the window they’d been sitting under before. They stayed like that for well over an hour before there was a gentle rapt at the door, and Taemin poked him head in.

“Hyung?” He called, before his eyes settled on the pair lounging on the bed, “Ah, Jinki-hyung was wondering what you wanted to do for dinner. He said either we can go down to one of the resort’s restaurants, or we can cook here at the chalet. But, if you’re not in the mood to eat right now that’s fine too,” He added quickly when Kibum did nothing more than move his gaze from the window to Taemin, his expression barely shifting at all. Minho looked up from his phone to see Taemin was looking at him now, pity flashing in his eyes briefly before he looked back down at Kibum. Minho instinctively tightened his grip on Kibum’s arm, causing the man to stir slightly.

“Did Jonghyun get back yet?” he asked quietly.

“Oh, no, he texted hyung saying he was going to-”

“I don’t want to go out,” Kibum cut in. “Did hyung want me to cook?”

“Uh, he said he would, if you weren’t up for it. He thought we’d do some filming though, the four of us,” Taemin answered, his voice tentative, as if speaking too loudly would cause the walls to cave in. Minho stroked Kibum’s arm encouragingly.

“What do you think, Beom? Are you hungry?” he asked, pressing his nose into the other man’s hair, speaking softly. He felt Kibum nod.

“Yeah, I’ll come down to cook with hyung,” he said, before directly addressing Taemin, “Tell him I’ll be down in a bit I need to wash up,” Taemin nodded and shut the door with a soft click. Neither of the remaining two made to move immediately, but eventually, Minho tossed his phone off to the side and patted Kibum’s back.

“Come on Beom, let’s go down stairs,” he said, shifting up on the bed higher, causing Kibum to fall off him slightly. He groaned from where his face had fallen between Minho’s side and the mattress

“Fine,” he said with a sigh. He pushed himself up, kicking the sheets back as he went. Minho waited as Kibum crawled over him to get off the bed, and watched as the other man dug around in his suitcase to grab a smaller bag from inside. Minho felt an urge to comment about the fact that today alone Kibum had cried twice about Jonghyun, but he swallowed it back. Instead, he followed the other man slightly out of the room, and into the bathroom across the hall. 

He leaned on the door frame, watching fondly as Kibum took out his different products and set them up in order on the counter. A small smile tugged at his lips when he noticed Kibum still hadn’t gotten through the jar of face cream he’d bought him for his birthday -- the last time he asked, Kibum claimed that it was too expensive to use every day, and that he liked saving it for when his skin needed it most. His smile faltered though, when he looked up, seeing Kibum’s face was still downcast and that he was going through the motions on autopilot rather than with purposeful care. A small frown was tugging on the corners of his mouth and Minho once again felt compelled to  _ say something _ .

“Are you thinking of dying your hair again soon?” he asked, wanting to facepalm at the irrelevance of the question. He needed to keep the other man distracted though, and usually fashion or styling was a good way to do that. Kibum turned on the sink, and then paused, looking in the mirror. He tugged at his fringe absently, going cross eyed as he pulled his hair down as far as it would go.

“Do you think I should?” he asked. He let go of his bangs to lean closer to the mirror, inspecting his hair under the yellow-tinted bathroom lights. What was once a warm honey color had faded at the tips to a mousy brown. Minho shrugged, reaching to his own hair subconsciously.

“What about me? Should I try spicing it up?” Kibum made a face at him through the mirror. He turned to look at him over his shoulder, looking at him incredulously before turning back to rinse water over his face.

“Minho, I’ve known you twelve years and can count on one hand the amount of times your hair has been a shade of not-brown,” he said, shutting the tap off before opening various bottles, and lathering them on his skin, “Why? Do you want to try bleaching it again, or something?”

“I was thinking of going red again, like that one time,” Minho replied with a shrug. Kibum paused, his hand on his cheeks, seeming to think it over.

“That could work actually,” he began patting his skin again, “I was thinking I’d re-bleach mine before rehearsal tomorrow. But, I haven’t really run it by Yeongjin-noona yet,” Minho nodded abently, his eyes trained on Kibum actions, watching as he finished up his routine. Minho could never understand how he managed to be so inherently pretty while still coming across as masculine. It was a trait Minho found unbelievably attractive, to the point of distraction. He blinked, looking back at Kibum through the mirror.

“Right, well,” he coughed into his fist, “You look good in any hair color, so,” he let the sentence hang, unfinished. Kibum smiled at him, turning around.

“Thanks. I’m all done, shall we head down?” he walked past him without waiting for a response. Minho found himself copying the smile anyway, turning the light off and following the other man out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This rapidly became more minkey than the original version. endgame is still jongkey like i originally plotted... for now. but i have updated the tags to reflect the ever present minkey lens i seem to have written this chapter in lol  
> DRAMA lols this isn't meant to be a slow burn, but lowkey feel like this might be longer than the original too :/ soz y'all i'm trying.
> 
> Please leave comments~! I love them and they motivate me. Criticism is v welcome too btw

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave me comments i'm lonely, and it motivates me.


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